Comments

I suspect the woman must have made some bigoted comments prior to the clip. Enlightened socialist asshole, meet your rank and file human ballast. I wonder how many times the video professor says something similar after having to "descend" to do his schmoozing on the shop floors controlled by big labour.

Posted by: John Chittick | 2010-04-28 10:33:42 AM

This was pretty well covered in the press but it is not 100% clear what she said. It doesn't seem that anything was particularly bigoted though. She said that Eastern Europe immigration is a problem and that some people get government assistance that don't deserve it.

Posted by: Hugh MacIntyre | 2010-04-28 12:11:17 PM

My own favourite part was Gordon Brown's non-apology apology. He doesn't say "I apologize for saying something hurtful" but rather "I apologize *if* I've said anything that has been hurtful.". As David Franke notes, this is par for the course with politicians.

You know, as much as I hate Gordon Brown and hope he goes down in flames, I sort of felt sorry for him here. I mean, as I was listening to it, I could totally see myself in a similar situation where I met someone on the campaign trail that I thought was an ignorant fool, and then making an offhand remark to my staffers afterwards.

His failing here was agreeing to wear that wireless microphone for the benefit of the TV cameras.

I kind of agree with you Mike. He deserves to lose but not really because of this.

Posted by: Hugh MacIntyre | 2010-04-29 10:57:20 AM

The press are such hypocrites. When they savage people or ideas or things in the most public fashion, they're acting as the foot soldiers of democracy and the guardians of liberty. When a politician mutters something out of the side of his mouth in private, he's an intolerant bastard. This blatant dichotomy is virtually irreconcilable with anything but a psychotic personality until you realize that the press exists to sell copy, and sensation sells.

Police Chief's advice for those who deal with the media: Treat the media like any other watchdog. Feed it, pet it occasionally, but never turn your back on it. Ever.

All the above noted, England is in urgent need of renewal, and Labour is the party least likely to provide this. They have become like the Canadian Liberal party in the early 1980s--arrogant, dysfunctional, and even destructive. Much like the Liberal Party today, I might add.

And the reason that the press would want to wireless mic you would be?

Posted by: The Stig | 2010-04-30 11:45:27 AM

I think a better question is why anyone would want to accept it, Stig.

Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2010-04-30 4:17:25 PM

Gordon Brown is just another leftist elitist slob! He thinks that he knows better than his constituents. All major parties in Britain have this problem. However, this smart ass superior being bit seems to be especially common in the Labour Party.
I'm sure that there is much that I would disagree with the old lady on! I can't imagine being crazy enough to vote for the British Labour Party even once much less for decades like her! However, she was bringing up issues that were valid and that deserved to be addressed. She brought up taxes and spending which are out of control(bring back Thatcher!). She talked about education and affording university. Well, the education system is on a downward slope. British children are falling in comparison to the children of other countries. There are many reasons for this. One, in many schools, the teachers have lost control of the building. The teachers are increasingly restricted in what measures they can take against disruptive students(also there are a lot of parents who don't seem to want to control their kids). Another reason is that under Labour, the schools have become less about learning and more about politically correct indoctrination. The PC police are troublesome but beginning to lose steam in America. They are a constant nuisance in Canada. However, in Britain , they have taken hold despite the wishes of most citizens. Why? Because Labour and the Liberal Democrats supported their agenda! Then, to make it worse fairweather conservatives like Cameron have agreed to continue these programs. The result is a brainwashed P.C. next generation that just pulls the lever for the left!
The old lady also talked about crime and immigration. Crime has become a serious problem in Britain but none of the three major parties will address it. They make nice little speeches about it. However, they take no real action against it(except of course to take away the guns of the law abiding). Labour outlawed the private ownership of handguns! The Liberal Democrats supported it! Many conservatives opposed the move but now will not attempt to change the law. It is the ruling elite once again forcing their position on the masses. Brits want a tougher line on crime. A large majority want the death penalty back. However, neither Cameron nor Brown nor Clegg will bring it back. Why because in their eyes the British public's views don't matter. It was the same when the death penalty was done away with in Britain in 1965. Labour narrowly came to power in 1964 after the Conservatives were hurt by a sex scandal. About 82% of the public supported maintaining capital punishment. However, Labour chose to disregard this opinion(which included the views of most Labour party voters) and eliminated it. Then, so-called Conservatives like Ted Heath, refused to hold binding referendums on the subject(Thatcher tried to pass the death penalty through parliment or put it to a referendum. However, the Michael Heseltine and Ted Heath wing of the Conservatives joined with Labour and the Liberal Democrats). Finally, the old lady also brought up immigration! Since Labour came to power in 1997, 2 million people have immigrated to Britain. The lowest yearly number was about 150,000 during that time. This is more than twice as high as the yearly number ever was under any previous British government. The society is not used to integrating so many new people at once. Also, there are some questions as to how willing to integrate these new arrivals are. You may disagree with these feelings. However, a smart person would sit down and address the issue with people rather than throw terms like bigot or racist around! All that does is cheapen the words! I know that Labour saw a rise in immigration as a way to revive its membership numbers since many of the old guard Labour supportersmare dying out. However, they should realize that British society has always been a little tense and address these concerns! If Brown wants to see a bigot, my advice is to go look at himself in the mirror! The only hope for Britain is either the UKIP taking control or Thatcherites taking control of the Conservatives!